1-1     By:  Hill (Senate Sponsor - Madla)                    H.B. No. 1847
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 1999;
 1-3     May 14, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by
 1-5     the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to
 1-6     printer.)
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to the presumed validity of a district act or proceeding.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
1-12     by adding Section 36.123 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 36.123.  DISTRICT ACT OR PROCEEDING PRESUMED VALID.
1-14     (a)  A governmental act or proceeding of a district is conclusively
1-15     presumed valid and to have occurred in accordance with all
1-16     applicable statutes and rules if:
1-17                 (1)  the first anniversary of the effective date of the
1-18     act or proceeding has expired; and
1-19                 (2)  a lawsuit to annul or invalidate the act or
1-20     proceeding has not been filed on or before that first anniversary.
1-21           (b)  This section does not apply to:
1-22                 (1)  an act or proceeding that was void at the time it
1-23     occurred;
1-24                 (2)  an act or proceeding that, under a statute of this
1-25     state or the United States, was a misdemeanor or felony at the time
1-26     the act or proceeding occurred;
1-27                 (3)  a rule that, at the time it was passed, was
1-28     preempted by a statute of this state or the United States,
1-29     including Section 1.06 or 109.57, Alcoholic Beverage Code; or
1-30                 (4)  a matter that on the effective date of this
1-31     section:
1-32                       (A)  is involved in litigation if the litigation
1-33     ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final
1-34     judgment of a court; or
1-35                       (B)  has been held invalid by a final judgment of
1-36     a court.
1-37           SECTION 2.  Subchapter H, Chapter 49, Water Code, is amended
1-38     by adding Section 49.233 to read as follows:
1-39           Sec. 49.233.  DISTRICT ACT OR PROCEEDING PRESUMED VALID.
1-40     (a)  In this section, "district" means:
1-41                 (1)  a district or authority created by authority of
1-42     Section 52(b)(1) or (2), Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI,
1-43     Texas Constitution, under general or special law; or
1-44                 (2)  a special water authority as defined by Section
1-45     49.001.
1-46           (b)  A governmental act or proceeding of a district is
1-47     conclusively presumed valid and to have occurred in accordance with
1-48     all applicable statutes and rules if:
1-49                 (1)  the first anniversary of the effective date of the
1-50     act or proceeding has expired; and
1-51                 (2)  a lawsuit to annul or invalidate the act or
1-52     proceeding has not been filed on or before that first anniversary.
1-53           (c)  This section does not apply to:
1-54                 (1)  an act or proceeding of a navigation district or
1-55     port authority created under general or special law;
1-56                 (2)  an act or proceeding of a groundwater conservation
1-57     district created under general or special law;
1-58                 (3)  an act or proceeding of a conservation or
1-59     reclamation district created under Chapter 62, Acts of the 52nd
1-60     Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 8280-141, Vernon's
1-61     Texas Civil Statutes);
1-62                 (4)  an act or proceeding that was void at the time it
1-63     occurred;
1-64                 (5)  an act or proceeding that, under a statute of this
 2-1     state or the United States, was a misdemeanor or felony at the time
 2-2     the act or proceeding occurred;
 2-3                 (6)  a rule that, at the time it was passed, was
 2-4     preempted by a statute of this state or the United States,
 2-5     including Section 1.06 or 109.57, Alcoholic Beverage Code; or
 2-6                 (7)  a matter that on the effective date of this
 2-7     section:
 2-8                       (A)  is involved in litigation if the litigation
 2-9     ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final
2-10     judgment of a court; or
2-11                       (B)  has been held invalid by a final judgment of
2-12     a court.
2-13           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-18     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-19     passage, and it is so enacted.
2-20                                  * * * * *